Friday, December 31, 2010

This will likely be my last post from North Carolina. By next weekend we will be headed south. First stop: somewhere in Georgia. As of this writing, I haven’t a clue where It makes little difference to me. Just moving south is good

The holidays flew by for us as I’m sure they did for many of you. On Christmas night, the snow that hit the East Coast arrived in NC and by morning, we had 7”. It was spectacular! This was the first snow for this area on Christmas since 1947. Rick and I took a nice long walk the following day. This is what we saw.If we had to spend the month of December in the cold, this certainly made it worthwhile. Stunning!
Rick finishes up his working career Monday and on Tuesday we fly to South Dakota for our drivers licenses. It is not the January vacation spot of our dreams so we are coming back on Wednesday South Dakota is a state we’d like to really explore, but not until July or August We’ll go back and will bring our home with us next time.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

What is it about this time of year that seems magical, even to many of us adults? For me, it may be the fact that we have had record cold temperatures this month combined with 3 snowfalls (minor, but snow, all the same) has made me think back to my Wisconsin childhood where cold and snow were synonymous with Christmas. As children and teenagers, we’d get all bundled up and go Christmas Caroling around town and out into the country. We mostly “entertained” the elderly, particularly those that were unable to get out much, if at all. When is the last time you saw a Christmas Caroler? I can’t remember. Maybe I’ll organize a campground sing-a-long :) There’s not many of us left here at Jordan Dam RV Park. Most have left for warmer climates. We, too, will be taking off in a couple weeks or so.

Things are moving along nicely for us. Rick has 6 more days of work after today. He’s anxious to get started on our adventure. We sold my Avalon last Friday to a lady he works with so we are now a one car family. The Jeep has had a base plate installed for towing and the tow bar and auxiliary brake will be ready to go after some additional wiring.

I’ve been doing some holiday baking and we’ve been doing some holiday eating :) It’s a very good thing I’ve been walking every morning. If not for that, you’d have to roll me out the door! Tonight we are invited to a holiday dinner at our neighbors. More food :)

We got a phone call from daughter, Nicole in Italy on Sunday. They are experiencing the largest snowfall Florence has seen in 50 years. Things were pretty much at a standstill just waiting for the melting. She was hoping the meltage would occur quickly as she had plans to travel to Scotland to visit friends for Christmas. If she is unable to get out, there surely will be many others stranded in the city. It could prove to be a memorable holiday-her first away from home. Luckily, technology is wonderful and we can Skype and feel like we’re together on Christmas morning… or afternoon, as she’s 6 hours later than we are.

Thank you for stopping by and wishing you all a wonderful, warm, happy Christmas!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Nothing like a brisk walk in the morning to get your juices flowing. And, your nose running, your eyes tearing and toes freezing. At least if you’re living in North Carolina this week :)

Since my accident and rehab, I’ve tried to walk as often as possible to keep my leg and knee moving, battling the stiffness. For those of you that are new readers, I took a fall last April and broke my left leg in 4 places and my left shoulder. Not one of my best moments :) Long story short, I’m doing great but still need to work on the rehab part with the leg.

One of our neighbors, Carla, here at Jordan Dam RV Park, has been nice enough to walk with me every day. She’s even been nice enough to slow down and wait for me! We normally walk to the Jordan Lake Boat Ramp and back, a distance of 3.4 miles round trip. It’s a really good workout for me and something I need to do. The last couple of days, with temps in the teens and 20’s, has been more of a challenge. The first half mile freezes my toes but after that, everything warms up the further we go. Pretty soon the gloves come off and then the jacket unzips. It’s a good thing we don’t walk any further.Two old ladies walking down the road taking off articles of clothing would not be a pretty site! :)

Thankfully, we’re staying warm in our little house on wheels. The heat pumps manage everything well during the day and at night, once the temps get low enough, the propane furnace kicks in. All systems are working well. It was 16° when we got up this morning :( Our tanks are heated so our only concern has been freezing water lines but they are still flowing. Rick insulated the water hose with pipe foam insulation and covered the entire faucet hookup pedestal with a blanket insulation cover. We stay hooked up but open the cabinet doors under the sinks before we go to bed so heat from the coach warms the water line area better. So far, so good. *Fingers crossed*

Friday, December 3, 2010

Although we had lived in Durham NC for many years, once we moved into our motorhome, we had to relocate to tiny Moncure NC due to lack of RV parks in the Durham area. Yesterday, I had an appointment for my regular cleaning and exam at my dentist office (Dr. Charles Willis) in Durham. I love this office and the people. Dr. Willis, Tina, Darcy, Terry & Sue have all been so great and caring. I've had a lot of work done there and I can't recommend them highly enough. For the first year of our travels, we are actually planning to return here twice just to see them...and get our teeth cleaned :)

As this was a 40 mile trip one-way for me, I planned to take advantage of the shopping while there. I did just that! I was able to make a big dent in my shopping list and even stopped at CVS for my annual flu shot. I love their Minute Clinic for flu shots. It's usually quick and they take my insurance. Yesterday was no exception. I was in, registered, got the shot and back in my car in 10 minutes. I also asked the nurse practitioner about the availability of the shingles vaccine. The more I read, I think it would be a good idea. She told me that they are no longer giving those shots. She said they lost a lot of money when they were giving them. Apparently, most insurance companies are not paying for them and they were unable to get reimbursed. I think I may have changed my payment policy before deciding to abandon the program all together, but I'm sure they have their reasons. I'm thinking a call to BCBS might be in order. If they cover it, they should have a list of participating providers. If they don't, I may just call my doctor and arrange to get it through them and pay for it myself.

On another note, you might get a chuckle out of Nick Russel's lastest blog titled "You Can't Watch TV in an RV". Rick and I have been watching TV off air, just using our antenna, since moving into our coach. There are several off air stations in this area and well, heck, they're free :) We had decided to reassess the situation once we're mobile and if necessary, go with Dish or Direct TV. After reading Nick's blog, I'm hoping we don't find it necessary :)

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Ok, I have to admit that I’ve been very intrigued by the I phone and the Droid since, well, since they came out. Both my girls have I phones, but because the Verizon network works best for us, they were out of the question. They, however, love, love, love their I phones. Now, there are many people who love, love, love their Droids such as Dee and Jim. As a result, I spent this morning doing some research on the various smart phones offered by Verizon. I am not convinced I actually need one, but I sure think I like them :) Later this afternoon, I read that Verizon was kicking off their 4G network on December 5th and that they should have 4G service nationwide by the end of 2013. Decisions, decisions, decisions. The first 4G phone will be out mid 2011. And, rumor has it the first Verizon I phone will be out in January. So do I wait, do I take the plunge now, do I forget all about it? I talked to Rick about it over dinner tonight hoping he would make me lean one way or another. His response? “As long as I can talk on it and text, I’m good. I’d never use that other stuff anyhow”. Well, there you go.

this says it all......

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do, than the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor and catch tradewinds in your sail."Mark Twain

Followers

"Not all those who wander are lost."

J.R.R. Tolkien

this is us...

and this is us with Lucy, our Tiffin Allegro Bus

"As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do."Zachary Scott